Black Mountain Rag was performed by the Black Mountain Boys, a group which included, at various times, Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, Eric Thompson, Sandy Rothman and David Nelson.

In Bluegrass: A History (1985) Neil Rosenberg outlines the origins of this piece. It was devised as a fiddle tune, initially called Black Mountain Blues, by Leslie Keith in the 1930's and was based on a traditional song The Lost Child. Keith did not record it at this point but played it often at concerts and on radio broadcasts. Other fiddlers heard it in this way and it became a popular tune. It was a hit for Curly Fox in the 1940's as Black Mountain Rag. On recordings the piece is sometimes credited to Tommy Magness, Leslie West or others but more often it is listed as traditional.